Big time folk rock, little venue

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Ryan McMahon has had enough of the social facade.

“I was trying to kick my own depression in the ass,” said the Elbowroom Recordings artist of the work on his latest album, In Line for a Smile.

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“I was getting to a point in life where everyone’s trying to keep up with the Joneses, everyone’s looking at their social media and we see everybody else’s highlight reel and I think sometimes you can get caught up in that and that can make you sad.”

The Vancouver Island native sought to wade above the weeds in the best way he knew how: writing a kickass folk-rock record.

“I’ve been able to travel overseas, get paid very well to play for very big audiences that I never would have imagined, but I’m also not on the cover of Pitchfork or on the tips of the tongues of music reviewers in the same way that some of my friends like William Prince or Dan Mangan are,” he admits.

“Sometimes, it’s just natural for you to want to want more. ‘How come that guy’s successful? I want to be as successful as that guy!’ It’s all bulls***, it’s all comparisons and this album helped me eradicate feeling that way and just really enjoy the journey of making music.”

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The singer has just embarked on the In Line for a Smile tour, with 20 stops planned at small venues over the next two months. The Hub Cafe and Wine Bar (101 Sunset Dr) will be one of them, as McMahon stops by the Sunset Ridge spot on January 26.

He knows Cochrane well, having played in town a handful of times as part of Lion Bear Fox, a folk trio with Spotify and SoundCloud plays well into the tens of thousands, and a previous sold out St. Andrew’s United Church show on their resume.

“We kind of seem to endear ourselves to the community and we really kept coming through and hanging our hats there, we’d always double down and play Cochrane every time we were coming to Calgary to play the Ironwood.”

The Ironwood, the storied live music venue in Calgary’s Inglewood neighbourhood, conjures up some laughs for the singer-songwriter.

“When you’re a B.C. boy, the first thing you do as a nineteen or twenty year-old punk is get in a van and go to Alberta because it’s right next door,” he said.

“I was trying to get gigs in Calgary throwing my demo tape in the mail. Everyone was saying ‘no’ because, well, I kind of sucked. You’ve got to be told ‘no’ a bunch and develop that thick skin. One guy who worked at the Ironwood stage, back when it was where The Blues Can is now, sent me an email and said, ‘You kind of aren’t that good, but I have a Tuesday. I have no acommodations for you, I think I can give you 150 bucks for the four of you and some beer.’”

“I did it, and we’ve been really good friends ever since.”

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Twenty-one years later, it’s safe to say McMahon’s done a pretty good job of progression. Cochranites can hear for themselves, with In Line for a Smile available on most major platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.

Folk artists with a talent for songwriting can sometimes fall into a trap where they let the lyrics do all their work at live shows, the focus on lyrics sometimes leading to a lack of musical ‘oomph’ in the performance. McMahon’s done a pretty solid job of not falling into that snag.

“I play every show like it’s my last, sing my guts out, tomorrow’s not guaranteed,” he said. His solo works, driven by acoustic guitar and storytelling, are still packed full of instrumental energy.

“It’s going to be an interactive show,” he said.

“Because it is so small, I can look them in the eye. If somebody has the hiccups, we’re going to talk about it.”

“People are more than welcome to mix it up with me because I’m always dialoguing in-between the songs and telling people the backgrounds of them. Sometimes the stories are really funny, sometimes the stories make you think, sometimes they make you cry.”

Showtime at The Hub is 7 p.m.. Tickets can be purchased for $20 at ActiveLight.ca/ryan-mcmahon-tickets or at the door if still available.